The Subtle Joy Of `Last Broadcast'

RELEASE OF THE WEEK - WHAT'S NEW IN MUSIC

June 06, 2002|By ERIC R. DANTON

THE LAST BROADCAST

Doves

EMI/Capitol

No matter who you are, no matter what you're like, ``The Last Broadcast'' is the soundtrack to your life.

The second album from Doves is epic in scale, ambitious in intent and extraordinary in execution. It's a recording steeped in moody, overcast layers of music that give way to piercing and unlikely rays of wistful, lyrical optimism.

Stylistically, it's the perfect synthesis of everything good about British rock music in the past 35 years. The band has described the album as ``northern [UK] soul meets New Order meets the White Stripes'' (who, yes, are American). But there's more. There are touches of My Bloody Valentine, hints of Radiohead, traces of 1970-vintage Pink Floyd and mesmerizing guitar figures that wouldn't sound out of place on records by the Verve. Others will doubtless hear different influences, which is part of the album's beauty -- it speaks to individuals' experiences in a way that few recordings can hope to match.

Guitars anchor ``The Last Broadcast,'' and the songs are ornamented with dissonant strings, synthesizer crescendos and bursts of staccato noise that swirl around startlingly hopeful lyrics.

Like an oncoming storm late on a summer afternoon, the album builds to ``Satellites,'' a glorious climax of redemption that seems to release the bottled-up fear, anger and pain that derail lives.

The next track, ``Friday's Dust,'' is a metaphysical clearing of the clouds, and the remaining songs on the album seem to chronicle the post-storm return to a semblance of normalcy and world-weary acceptance. Heady stuff.

Doves' first album, ``Lost Souls,'' tagged the trio as a downcast group that churned out beautiful, depressing songs. Though it's not particularly accurate, that notion has frustrated the band, which entered the studio early in 2001 intending to make an album that would dispel any misconceptions.

``The Last Broadcast'' shows a trio that crafts beautiful, sweeping songs brimming with a subtle joy. Over 12 songs, Doves unsheathes a steady light that will doubtless outlast the darkest night.

To hear selections from Doves' ``The Last Broadcast,'' go to www.ctnow.com/ entertainment/ music.